Heartbreaking
by TotalCSIfan
Summary: Nick and Catherine work a very difficult case and Nick calls on someone unexpected to help with the investigation. This is NOT a Nick/Catherine slash. Reviews appreciated! Enjoy!


Disclaimer: I own nothing of CSI

**Heartbreaking**

Jackie Stokes's phone woke her at 3 in the morning. She glanced at the caller I'D and saw her husband's name. She felt a pit form in her stomach, Nick wouldn't call her at this time if it wasn't an emergency.

"Hello." She said.

"Hi Babe, listen I am sorry I had to call this late but I need your help.

"Oh God Nick what's wrong, are you alright, is someone on the team hurt?"

"No we are all fine but I do need your help."

"Ok, what do you need?"

"Well my case tonight is a murdered woman, and she has a little boy. The boy was brought into the lab and he's really scared. I asked him where he went to school this past year and he said he went to Kent Elementary, and when I asked him who is teacher was he said Mrs. Stokes."

Jackie gasped "What's his name?" She asked.

"Marcus Fisher." Nick answered.

"Oh no." Jackie said quietly.

Marcus Fisher was indeed one of her former students. He was a sweet little boy. On the last day of school he told Jackie that he did not want to enter the first grade next year because he wanted her to remain his teacher. His mother Ellen Fisher was a very nice lady, despite being a single mother and having to work full time she managed to be at every school function. She was one of the parents that was a classroom helper in Jackie's classroom, meaning she would come and help out in the classroom one day a week. She also accompanied the class on both the field trips they took for the year as well as being one of the parents that came in and helped during the Valentine's Day party. If every parent was involved the way Ellen was, teaching would be a lot easier.

"Like I said Jackie he's really scared, who wouldn't be, could you come down to the lab and just talk to him, I think it would really be nice for him to see a familiar face."

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Jackie promised.

Jackie called her mom and asked her if she would watch Nick and Jackie's little girl Jasmine. She readily agreed to help and so Jackie went and got dressed. She decided to just leave Jasmine in her pajamas. She grabbed Jasmine's shoes out of the closet. When she touched Jasmine's foot to put them on her the little girl woke up with a start.

"It's ok Sweetheart, it's just mama." She said.

"Mama" Jasmine whispered with a faint smile before falling back asleep.

Jackie drove Jasmine over to her parents house and then she headed to the lab. Greg Sanders was waiting for her in the parking garage.

"Hi Jackie, Nick didn't want you walking around out here in the dark by yourself, there are too many weirdo's." Greg said.

"Thanks Greg." She said with a smile.

They walked to the interrogation room. Jackie looked in, she knew she could see them but they couldn't see her. She saw Nick and Catherine on one side of the table and a very scared looking little boy on the other side.

"Wait here a second." Greg told her before going into the room.

Greg came out a minute later.

"Marcus, there is someone that came to see you." She heard Nick say.

"Ok, go in now." Greg told her.

When Jackie entered the room the little boy leapt from his chair and ran over to her

"Mrs. Stokes." He said excitedly, wrapping his arms around her extremely large, one week away from her due date stomach.

"Hi Marcus." She said, giving the little boy a hug.

"Mrs. Stokes, this is Nick, he is really nice, he gave me a lollipop."

Nick smiled at her and she smiled back.

She went over and shook his hand, pretending not to know him.

He also played along, "nice to meet you." He said with a grin.

"And this is Catherine, she is really nice too, she gave me a sticker, isn't it cool?" He asked showing her the sticker that was on his shirt.

"Wow that's really cool." Jackie said pretending to be excited for the little boy's benefit.

"Do you want one, maybe she has an extra." He said.

Jackie chuckled "No that's ok" she told the little boy.

Then she walked over to Catherine and shook her hand, and said "Hi Catherine" again pretending to know her. Jackie then went and sat down next to Marcus.

"Marcus, would you like to see something cool?" Nick asked. "

Ok." The little boy said excitedly.

Nick reached down and grabbed two swabs from his kit. Nick stuck one of the swabs in his own mouth.

"Ok, your turn." He said to Marcus.

"Um, does that hurt?" Marcus asked tentatively.

"Nope, not at all." Nick assured him.

The boy still looked skeptical.

"Do you want me to do it to her first?" Nick asked, nodding towards Jackie.

"Yes" Marcus answered.

"Ok, come here Jackie." Nick said.

"Her name's not Jackie, its Mrs. Stokes." Marcus said to Nick animatedly.

Nick smiled "You're right, I'm sorry, Mrs. Stokes, will you come here for a minute?"

Jackie grinned and walked over to him.

He swabbed her mouth.

"Now are you ready for your turn?" Nick asked Marcus.

"Yes" he answered and he quickly went over to him.

Nick grabbed another swab from his kit and swabbed the little boy's mouth, and then everyone sat back down. Nick laid the three swabs on the table.

"Now do you know which one is yours?" Nick asked Marcus.

"Nope." Marcus answered sounding a little worried.

"That's alright, you don't have to know because I have a machine that will tell me which one is yours. The machine, no matter how bad I mix them up will be able to tell me which one belongs to you."

"Cool, is the machine magic?" The little boy asked with his eyes wide.

Nick laughed, "Nope, it's not magic, it's just a really cool science machine."

"Neat, Mrs. Stokes, you should get one of those machines in your classroom." Marcus said.

"I'll see what I can do." Jackie said with a chuckle.

"Marcus, is it alright if I ask you some questions about what happened when you called 911 tonight?" Nick asked.

He figured it would be a good time to start questioning him about the investigation because Marcus was now relaxed.

"Ok" the boy said.

Catherine stood up and went over to Jackie.

"Jackie, you probably shouldn't be in here for this, it's an ongoing investigation. I'm sorry" Catherine whispered in her ear.

"No problem I understand." Jackie said standing up and walking to the door."

"You're leaving?" The little boy cried out in a scared voice.

"I'll be right out in the waiting room." Jackie promised with a smile on her face.

"No." Marcus said jumping up and grabbing a hold of Jackie's leg.

"It's ok Marcus, Nick and Catherine are going to stay with you. You like them, remember, you told me they were nice." Jackie said bending down to get eye level with the child.

"I know, but I want you to stay." He insisted as tears started to trickle down his face.

Jackie glanced at Nick and Catherine.

"Just stay." Catherine mouthed as she motioned for her to sit back down.

"You sure?" Jackie mouthed back.

She nodded yes so Jackie sat back down. The little boy smiled as he also returned to his seat.

"Ok Marcus, I'm going to ask you a couple of questions now ok?" Nick said.

"Ok." Marcus answered.

Nick smiled at him "Ok, why did you wake up tonight, did something scare you, did you hear a noise, what was it that woke you up?"

"I was thirsty."

"Oh I see, you were thirsty so you got up to get a drink." Nick said and then added "How come you went into your mommy's room instead of going to get something from the kitchen?" Nick asked.

"Because the glasses are too high for me to reach so I wanted to tell mommy to get me one."

Nick nodded in understanding

"When you went into your mommy's room what did you see, did anything seem funny, or was there anything in her room that normally isn't there?"

"Nope, mommy was sleeping so I went over to her and told her to wake up but she didn't." the little boy said.

Jackie wanted to cry, she couldn't imagine what that would be like for anyone, let alone a little child.

"So what did you do next?" Nick asked gently.

"I shook her like this." Marcus said as he grabbed a hold of Jackie's arm to demonstrate.

He shook Jackie's arm rather vigorously.

"Then what happened?" Nick asked.

"She didn't wake up so I called 911 just like mommy taught me. I talked to a nice lady on the phone, I told her my mommy wouldn't wake up, and then I told address and my name. Pretty soon after that the police men came and so did a fire truck and a, um what are they called?"

Nick smiled at the little boy "an ambulance" he said.

"Yeah, that's it." Marcus said.

"Marcus I just want to tell you how good of a job you did by calling 911, that is exactly what you are supposed to do, that was very good thinking."

"I'm a smart boy." Marcus said proudly.

Nick chuckled "Yes you are." He said.

"Marcus, do you know if your mommy keeps the doors locked at night?" Catherine asked.

"Yes, she said she don't want the bad guys to get us." He said.

Nick and Catherine exchanged glances

"What bad guys?" Nick asked

"All of them" Marcus replied.

Nick and Catherine smiled at him.

"So Marcus, you didn't see any bad guys in your house tonight or hear any scary noises right?"

"No" He said.

Then his little face lit up "guess what?" He said excitedly.

"What?" Nick asked hoping he was just about to provide a crucial detail in the case.

"I rode here in a cop car, and the policeman turned the lights and sirens on for me."

"Wow that's really cool." Nick replied trying to sound excited.

"Nick, is my mommy up from her nap yet?"

Jackie closed her eyes, trying desperately to stop the tears that threatened to escape from her eyes.

"Marcus I have an idea, why don't you and Mrs. Stokes go get something to drink from the pop machine in the break room." Nick said quickly changing the subject.

"Ok" he said happily as he got up from his chair and walked out of the room.

"Here's some money." Nick said to Jackie when she walked over to him.

"How could you two tell that precious child that his mom was simply taking a nap?" she hissed angrily at her husband and his supervisor.

"We didn't tell him that, I'm sure he just inferred it when she wouldn't wake up."

"Come on Mrs. Stokes." Marcus called as he poked his head back into the doorway.

Jackie sighed and took the money from Nick's hand, left the room and walked with Marcus down the hall to the break room.

"What kind of pop do you want Marcus?" Jackie asked as she stuck the dollar in the machine.

"Orange" he replied so she pressed the correct button.

She stuck another dollar and bought herself a water.

"Do you want something to eat too?" Jackie asked.

He eyed the vending machine. "The peanut butter cookie" he said so she bought him the cookie as well.

They then went and sat down at the table in the center of the room.

"How come you got water, it's boring." He said.

Jackie smiled "Water is good for you, and it's good for my baby too."

"Is pop good for you?" he asked.

"No, but it's ok to have once in a while." She assured him.

He munched on his cookie contently.

Sara Sidle then walked into the room, it didn't appear she saw Jackie or Marcus sitting there

"Men, seriously, I haven't talked to my husband all day and when I finally get a chance to, ten minutes into the conversation he hangs up so he can go get a closer look at a spider across the room, what an idiot." She mumbled under her breath.

"Sara" Jackie said.

Marcus had a shocked expression on his little face.

Sara spun around, "oh hi Jackie what are you doing here?" she asked clearly embarrassed.

Then she saw Marcus and gave Jackie a _who is that_?" look.

"Sara this is Marcus, Marcus this is Sara." She said introducing the two.

"Hi" Marcus said in a friendly tone.

"Hi Marcus." Sara said as she sat down across from them.

"Sara works with Nick" Jackie told Marcus.

"I thought Catherine works with Nick?" Marcus asked confused.

"Catherine does work with Nick but Sara does too." Jackie explained.

"Then how come I don't know her?" He asked.

"Well, she's just not working with Nick tonight." Jackie answered.

"Oh" he said seemingly understanding.

A hand touched Jackie's shoulder and made her jump.

Nick was standing there "come with me a minute." He whispered.

"Marcus, I am going to talk to Nick, you stay here and finish your pop and cookie and I'll be right back."

"Ok" he said taking another bite of his cookie.

She followed Nick out of the room as did Sara.

"Who is that little boy?" Sara asked.

"He's a former student of mine, his mother was murdered tonight."

"How horrible." Sara said shaking her head.

"Well guys I am going to go try to call my impossible husband back, good luck solving your case Nick." Sara said before walking down the hallway and out of sight.

"What's up?" Jackie asked Nick.

"Bad news, social services won't come and pick up Marcus until later, possibly not until around 10 or 11 AM." He said.

"What are we going to do, I can't take him home, I could lose my teaching license, but I certainly can't just leave him here either. Can't you find a relative to take him, I hate to see him go into foster care, that's so sad."

"We're working on that, but so far we've had no luck."

Jackie sighed "I guess I'll just have to sleep here tonight then."

"Honey that's going to be awfully uncomfortable for you, especially because you're pregnant, just go home for the night, he'll be fine, we'll take care of him, don't worry."

"Nicky, I can't just leave him here." she argued.

Nick sighed "alright, I'll think of something." He said.

Jackie went and rejoined Marcus in the break room and after he had finished his pop and snack as promised Nick thought of a solution. He got Marcus a blanket and pillow so he could sleep on a bench in the waiting area and Nick gave Jackie his comfortable office chair to sleep on. He wheeled it out into the waiting area for her. Both Jackie and Marcus fell asleep rather quickly.

To Jackie it seemed like she had only been asleep for a few minutes when "Jackie, wake up." Nick said shaking her gently.

She opened her eyes "what time is it?" she asked sleepily.

"8 in the morning. Follow me." He said.

She glanced at Marcus who was still sleeping peacefully on the bench.

Nick led Jackie into the interrogation room "I've got great news, we found Ellen Fisher's sister, as it turns out she is Marcus's Godmother and is more than happy to take Marcus. What's even better is that she lives in Vegas, close to where Ellen lived so he won't even have to change schools."

"Nick that's wonderful." Jackie exclaimed happily

"Yeah, it was really lucky. When we called her she was in Los Angeles on a business trip so she has to fly back, but she should be here soon."

"I am so happy to hear that." Jackie said and then she remembered something "Is her name Cammie?" she asked.

"Yeah why, do you know her?" Nick asked.

"Yeah I met her at one of the school's carnivals. Marcus seemed to really like her.

"That's good." Nick said with a smile.

A few minutes later Cammie showed up. She looked at Jackie "Aren't you Marcus's teacher?" she asked.

"Yes, he was very frightened tonight so I came here to visit him to see if I could calm him down."

"That's very nice of you, but how did you know what happened?" Cammie asked.

Jackie nodded towards Nick "He's my husband." Jackie said with a smile as she shook Cammie's hand.

"Oh ok Stokes, sorry I guess I didn't make the connection." Cammie said.

Jackie just smiled.

"I'm very sorry for your loss." Jackie said.

"Thank you" Cammie answered.

Marcus was still asleep on the bench so Nick took her into the interrogation room to update her on the investigation. He promised to keep her informed as the investigation moved along. When he was finished Cammie wanted to see Marcus so Jackie gently went over and woke the boy up.

"Marcus, wake up." She whispered.

"Hi" the little boy said rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Someone is here to see you Marcus." Jackie said.

"Who?" He asked excitedly.

Jackie pointed to Cammie in the corner of the room.

"Auntie Cammie" He exclaimed as he jumped off the bench and ran to her.

"Hi Marcus" his aunt said giving him a tight embrace.

Cammie then turned to Jackie "Thanks for coming down here to see him, that was very nice of you." Cammie said once again.

"It was no problem."

"Marcus, tell Mrs. Stokes bye." Cammie instructed.

He wrapped his arms around his former teacher

"are you sure you can't be my teacher again next year?"

"I can't, but I promise that all three first grade teachers are really nice, and all their classrooms are close to mine so I am sure you will see me a lot in the hall. Plus my class goes outside with the first graders quite a bit so you will see me at recess too." Jackie said with a smile.

"Yayyy." The little boy exclaimed.

He gave her one last hug before he turned and walked down the hallway.

"Thanks again." Cammies said to Jackie.

"Sure, if you or Marcus need anything just let me know" Jackie said.

Cammie nodded gratefully and then turned and followed Marcus down the hallway.

When they were out of sight Jackie turned to Nick "I think he'll be ok." She said.

"I do too, I really do, and unfortunately that isn't something I say very often about children of murdered parents." He said.

Jackie nodded sadly.

"I guess I'll go pick up Jasmine and go home." She said.

"Alright, I'll walk you to the car." Nick said as he grabbed her hand.

When they had reached the car he opened the door for her.

"I don't know what time I'll be home."

"Ok no problem." She said.

"Thanks for all your help tonight." He said as he leaned over and gave her a small peck on the lips.

She smiled as she climbed into the car. She started her car and drove off. Nick watched until he could no longer see her car and then he turned and walked back into the lab.

As Jackie drove to her parents' house she realized just how exhausted she was. She turned the radio to distract her.

When she got to her parents house she walked up to the front steps and knocked on the door. Her mom Aubrey answered the door.

"Hi, is everything alright?" Her mom said.

"No, one of my former students' mother was murdered, it was awful." Jackie said.

"How terrible." Aubrey said.

"Let's just say it has been a very long night." Jackie said.

Her mother was about to respond when suddenly the room started to shake.

"What in the world?" Jackie said looking at her mother.

Seconds later Jackie's dad Rich came crawling into the room. Jasmine was on his back holding on tightly to his shirt as if she was riding a horse and she was giggling hysterically. The room shook so hard a picture fell off the wall.

"Oops" Rich said looking like a kid who knew he was about to get a lecture from his mother.

His wife did not say anything though; she just crossed her arms and shook her head.

"Go Ampy" Jasmine giggled as she kicked her grandpa in his side.

"Ouch, easy there cowgirl" he said with a laugh and then they were off again, and again Jasmine burst into a fit of giggles.

"Dad come back here with her, I'm going to take her home." Jackie said laughing.

"Jackie you look exhausted." Her mother said looking at her with concern.

"I'm tired, but I'm ok." Jackie assured her.

"Why don't you leave Jazz with us and go home and get some sleep. Nick can pick her up when he gets off." Her mother suggested.

"Nick might not get home for several more hours, he might even have to pull a double, I'm not sure, and if I leave her here that long I think it will do dad in." Jackie said with a grin.

"He'd deserve it, I told him he's going to pass out, but he doesn't listen, you know that. Jasmine thinks he's a horse, but I say he is a jackass." Her mother said with a smirk.

Jackie laughed.

"I heard that." Rich called from the other room.

"Good you were suppose to hear it." His wife said.

He then came back into the room with Jasmine still on his back.

"Alright kiddo, the horsey needs a break." He said out of breath.

"Horsey." Jasmine said excitedly, she clearly did not want the fun to end.

"Let's have some lunch first Jazz." He said as Aubrey took Jasmine off of his back.

"No horsey?" She asked sounding as if she was going to cry.

"How about if grandpa takes you to McDonalds?" Rich said, trying desperately to get out of giving her another piggy back ride.

"Donald's" Jasmine said and her face lit up.

"Oh boy she sure knows what that is." Rich said with a laugh.

Aubrey just rolled her eyes.

"Let's all go." Rich suggested.

"Jackie needs to go home and get some sleep, and I just ate." Aubrey said.

Rich looked at his daughter. "Are you going to come with us?" he asked.

"No thanks, mom's right, I'm tired, I think I'm going to go home and get some sleep."

"Looks like it's just you and me then Jazz." Rich said.

"Are you sure it's ok if Jasmine stays for a few more hours?" Jackie asked

"Yeah, she's fine, we're having fun aren't we kiddo." Rich said nodding to where Jasmine had just been standing, but to his surprise his granddaughter was gone.

"Where'd she go?" He asked.

Aubrey found her on the other side of the couch. "Look at this." She said to her husband and daughter.

Rich and Jackie went over to where she was standing and saw Jasmine trying very hard to put her shoes on.

"Where are you going Jazz?" Jackie asked with a laugh.

"Donald's" She said with a grin.

Everyone laughed.

"She says I got a date at Donald's with my grandpa, stay out of my way." Rich said with a grin.

Aubrey smiled at the little girl, Jasmine had managed to put her sandals on but they were on the wrong feet.

"Here Sweetheart, let grandma help, you got them on the wrong feet." Aubrey said as she knelt down and put the sandals on correctly.

After that Rich grabbed Jasmine's hand "alright, tell your mommy bye and then we'll go." He said.

"Bye-bye Mama." She said.

"Bye Peanut, have fun and be good. I love you" Jackie said.

After Jasmine and her father had left Jackie turned to her mother "If Nick doesn't get off within a few hours, I'll come back and get her."

"Ok but no hurry." Her mother said.

"Thank you guys, I owe you one." Jackie said.

"Oh hush, you don't owe us anything, your dad was happy you wanted us to babysit today because he had the day off so he could actually spend some time with her. And I was happy too, now that summer is here and school's out you don't bring her over much." Aubrey assured her.

Jackie's parents were no stranger to babysitting Jasmine. Aubrey watched Jasmine every day that Jackie worked for a couple of hours in the morning until Nick got off of work and then he would pick her up on his way home. But by the time Jackie dropped her off in the mornings Rich was already off to work. Jasmine still got to see plenty of her grandpa though, Nick and Jackie made sure of it. Even now that Jackie was off of work for the summer she made sure that Jasmine got to see her grandparents at least a few times a week.

"Alright then, I am going to head home for awhile." Jackie said as she grabbed her keys and headed to the door.

She thanked her mom once more before leaving.

When she got home she sent Nick a text message saying: _Would you please pick up Jasmine from my parents house on your way home from work? Love you._

A few minutes later he sent a reply that read: _K I will, love you too__._

Jackie smiled as she read the text message. She then lay down on the couch; it didn't take her long at all to fall asleep. She slept for nearly three hours and she would have slept longer but she was awoken by the front door being opened. Nick walked into the house carrying Jasmine who was fast asleep.

"Hi" he whispered.

"Hi" she answered.

Nick then went and laid Jasmine down in her room before coming back down into the living room and sitting down next to Jackie on the couch.

"So did you find out who murdered Marcus's mother?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah, it was an ex-boyfriend. He still had a key to her house. He snuck in, manually strangled her and left without making any noise, which explains why Marcus didn't hear anything. She put up a fight though, she scratched him, we found his DNA under her fingernails, that's what led us to him, his DNA was in the system for stealing a car a few years ago. Without that DNA we might never have caught him."

"I'm so glad you caught the scum bag, did he say why he did it?" She asked.

"He didn't tell us why, but both Cath and I think it was because she broke up with him, you know the old _if I can't have her nobody else will either." _

"That's a shame, she was such a nice lady and she a very devoted mother." Jackie said.

"It's awful but sadly I see it all too frequently." Nick said.

"Nicky I honestly don't know how you do that job every night, it's so depressing and sickening, I couldn't do it that's for sure."

"It's definitely tough at times, but it helps knowing you were able to get justice for the victim and their family." Nick replied.

Jackie smiled

"I see my parents wore Jasmine out." She said changing the subject.

Nick laughed "yeah and Jazz wore your dad out too, he was asleep on the couch when I went over to pick her up."

Jackie laughed.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before Nick said "Hon, I'm sorry but I have to go get some sleep, I'm beat, it's been a very long night. Can I get you anything before I go?"

"No thanks, actually despite my nap I'm still tired, and since Jasmine is also asleep I think I might take a nap with you."

He grinned "Ok" He said as he helped her off the couch.

They walked up to their bedroom and fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms just moments after lying down.


End file.
